1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auger-type ice making machine in which an ice layer formed on an inner surface of an ice making cylinder wound with a vaporizing pipe is scraped off by an auger screw, wherein resulting ice fragments are compressed into small solidified ice pieces. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an ice storage system for storing the ice pieces produced by the ice making machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art In a known auger-type ice making machine such as the one shown in FIG. 7 of the attached drawings, an ice layer is formed on an inner surface of an ice making cylinder 2 by a refrigerator which is operatively associated with the ice making cylinder 2 and includes a compressor, a condenser, a vaporizer and other refrigerator elements in an arrangement known per se. The ice layer thus produced is scraped off by means of an auger screw (not shown) rotationally driven by a drive motor 5. The resulting ice fragments are fed upwardly through compressing channels (not shown) to an ice storage chamber or box 4 disposed above the ice making cylinder 2. In the known ice making machine, only one ice storage chamber or box 4 is installed, having a storage capacity as low as 1 to 4 kg. For this reason, the ice making machine is primarily intended for use in producing small ice pieces to be put in a cup or the like through an ice dispensing device 3 for supplying cold water. Thus, the ice stocker 4 is designed to be capable of repeatedly delivering a small volume of ice pieces a number of times when required.
Because the prior art auger-type ice making machine is intended primarily for applications in which a small number of ice pieces is delivered time after time and has relatively small storage capacity, the prior art ice making machine can not supply a large amount of ice which is disadvantageous.
The disadvantage discussed above may be overcome by making use of the daily output capability of the ice making machine itself fully and effectively and increasing the storage capacity of the ice storage chamber correspondingly. However, an increased storage capacity requires a correspondingly increased height in the ice making machine as a whole, increasing the danger that the machine might fall over under the influence of some external forces such as earthquakes. Additionally, an agitator which is rotatably mounted within the ice storage chamber which not only prevents a so-called arching phenomenon in which ice pieces bond together in a bridge-like configuration but also aids in discharging ice pieces from the ice storage box becomes bulky and correspondingly heavy, which in turn means that the torque necessary to rotate the agitator is must also be increased. Consequently, not only does the mechanical strength of the agitator have to be increased but also the rated power of the drive motor 5 for driving the agitator has to be increased. Furthermore, in order to deliver a large amount of ice pieces, the opening of the ice dispensing device 3 as well as the dispensing or exit port 6 should preferably be enlarged. However, when it is desired that the ice making machine also be capable of repeatedly delivering ice pieces bit by bit, an agitator which performs a function of aiding the discharge of ice pieces as mentioned above will have to be a specifically designed structure which is naturally more complicated. In this way, any attempts to simply increase the capacity of the ice storage chamber are accompanied with the difficulties mentioned above. Consequently, even if a refrigerator having a high daily output capability is employed, limitations are still imposed on the ice storage capacity, which in turn presents an obstacle to the effective use of the refrigerator output capability. Thus, the known auger-type ice making machines are disadvantageous in that such can not supply large amounts of ice.